the women's side of the WCHA, but have differing homes for their men's teams. Bemidji State and Minnesota State also compete on the men's side of the WCHA, while Minnesota–Duluth and St. Cloud State compete in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC), which only operates a men's league. Duluth Bulldogs have won five Division I championships in women's ice hockey and two Division I championships in men's ice hockey. After the 2020–21 season, Bemidji State and Minnesota State will leave the men's WCHA to become inaugural members of the second Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). This league is the revival of a former Division I men's conference that had operated from 1971 to 2013. In July 2021, the University of St. Thomas became the state's newest Division I school. The Tommies were expelled from their longtime Division III home of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), effective with the end of the 2020–21 school year, due to perceptions by most of the other MIAC members that they had grown too strong for the conference. St. Thomas soon received an invitation from the Summit League, a non-football Division I conference, to become a member effective upon its MIAC departure. St. Thomas eventually received a waiver of an NCAA rule mandating that Division III schools can only transition to Division II, allowing the school to move directly to D-I on the originally announced schedule. Of the school's 21 varsity sports, 18 participate in the Summit League. The football team plays in the Pioneer Football League, a football-only conference that competes in the second level of D-I football, the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), thereby becoming the state's first FCS member. Men's hockey joined the revived CCHA, and women's hockey is in the WCHA. Division II The NCAA Division II teams in Minnesota primarily compete in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). There are 9 Division II classified schools for the 2017–2018 year. The NSIC was founded in 1932 and joined the NCAA in 1992. Teams competing in the NSIC are: Bemidji State University – Beavers Concordia University, St. Paul – Golden Bears Minnesota State University, Mankato – Mavericks Minnesota State University Moorhead – Dragons Southwest Minnesota State University – Mustangs St. Cloud State University – Huskies University of Minnesota Crookston – Golden Eagles University of Minnesota Duluth – Bulldogs Winona State University – Warriors Bemidji State, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State, and St. Cloud